Etymology

molotov cocktail

Today it means: A crude incendiary bomb made from a glass bottle, either filled with a flammable liquid such as petroleum and supplied with a rag for a fuse that is lit just before being hurled, or filled with such a mix of flammable liquids that it ignites itself when it is smashed and its contents are exposed to air. Full definition →

Finnish Molotovin koktaili
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The story

  1. Finnish · calque ofMolotovin koktaili
  2. English todayMolotov cocktail

Calque of Finnish Molotovin koktaili. Coined in Finland during the Winter War of 1939–40 between Finland and the Soviet Union, and named after then-Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov (1890–1986), who claimed the bombs the Soviet Union dropped on Finland were airborne humanitarian food deliveries prompting Finns to say their firebombs were Molotov cocktails (drinks to go with his food deliveries).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.